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Look up! November to see two meteor showers, lunar eclipse

Posted 10:02 PM, Oct 31, 2020
and last updated 2:04 PM, Nov 02, 2020

SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — This November will see two meteor showers and a lunar eclipse grace the skies.

The Northern Taurid meteor shower will skirt across our atmosphere on Nov. 11-12, according to EarthSky. The event is also expected to produce about five meteors per hour, but the shower is famous for its slow-moving and bright meteors.

The next week, the Leonid meteor shower will peak on Nov. 16-17. That shower is expected to produce 15 to 20 meteors per hour. NASA says the Leonid shower happens every November and features some of the fastest moving meteors out there, traveling at about 44 miles per second.

Stargazers are encouraged to get the best viewing of the meteor shower by finding an area away from lights and laying flat, with feet facing east, to take in as much sky as possible, according to NASA. The best viewing time will be around midnight and last until dawn.

Then to cap off the month, on Nov. 30, a penumbral lunar eclipse will visible throughout North America. The moon will appear slightly darker because the sun, Earth, and moon are imperfectly aligned. The Earth will block some of the sun's light from directly hitting the moon, covering all or part of the moon with the outer part of its shadow.

A penumbral lunar eclipse occurs when the Sun, Earth, and the Moon are imperfectly aligned. When this happens, the Earth blocks some of the Sun's light from directly reaching the Moon's surface and covers all or part of the Moon with the outer part of its shadow, also known as the penumbra, according to Space.com.